The Zika Virus Is Coming

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in particular cautioned pregnant women not to travel to those areas as Zika has been linked to a serious birth defects.

While the agency has not issued any travel restrictions related to Zika-endemic countries, it recommends that pregnant women discuss any travel plans with their health-care providers to assess their risk and to get advice on how to protect themselves against mosquito bites (http://travel.gc.ca/travelling/health-safety/insect-bite).

The number of infected people could be from 440,000 to 1,300,000 people, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has estimated. The babies born had small heads, a rare condition known as microcephaly. It moved through Africa and Asia to Pacific islands.

The advisory lists Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. It’s one reason why doctors stress rubella vaccination and why pregnant women are tested to make sure they’re immune. The county’s mosquito control office is also testing local mosquitoes for any signs of dengue – a test that it is using as a proxy for Zika screening because there is no readily available field test for Zika, says Mustapha Debboun, Director of the Mosquito Control Division for the county.

Ecuadoran officials had previously detected four people who arrived from other countries with the disease, which is spreading through Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazil has now reported more than 3,500 cases. “The virus shouldn’t cause alarm among the population”, he said, according to the Dominican Today.

Brazil’s Health Ministry says 3,530 babies have been born with microcephaly in the country since October.

Countries that have past or current evidence of Zika virus transmission, as of January 2016. US health officials are heading to Brazil, where there’s been a recent spike in the birth defect, to further study the actual risk to pregnant women.

Petersen said United States experience to date with similar mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya suggests that facets of the North American lifestyle – living in air-conditioned homes and dwellings with screens on windows and doors – should limit how much the virus would spread here.

An Aedes aegypti mosquito, the vector of Zika virus.

There’s no known vaccine or treatment for Zika, though people who have been infected may have immunity. But infections have exploded recently in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The uptick in microcephaly started appearing a few months after the virus was identified, which is why Brazilian health officials believe there may be a bad link between Zika and the birth defect.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, “microcephaly is a medical condition in which the circumference of the head is smaller than normal because the brain has not developed properly or has stopped growing”. Locally transmitted Zika virus has not been reported elsewhere in the United States, but cases of Zika have been reported in returning travelers.